


body talk

by pageandpetals



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Barebacking, Body Worship, Knotting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:35:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pageandpetals/pseuds/pageandpetals
Summary: Sehun is tall, broad, and intimidating—everything you'd expect of an alpha. Trouble is, he's actually an omega, and the constant misunderstandings that ensue when would-be suitors mistake him for an alpha are starting to mess with his head.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Oh Sehun
Comments: 47
Kudos: 346
Collections: First Round





	body talk

It never fails: every time Sehun goes to a club with his friends, all it does is put him in a bad mood. And yet… he's too much of a pushover to say no whenever Jongin invites him out.

"Come on, you never come out with us anymore. Please?"

Lying in bed scrolling through Facebook, Sehun puts his phone down on his chest and looks over at Jongin, who is standing in the doorway to Sehun's bedroom.

"I go with you every time you ask me to go," Sehun points out. "But I'm not about to third-wheel it on your dates with Chanyeol. If it's just him going, I'll pass."

"It's not!" Jongin protests. "Junmyeon's coming, too. You know how he likes to flirt with that one bartender. Betas gotta stick together, I guess."

"Oh, great, so I'll be _fifth_ -wheeling it. That's fun."

Jongin pouts at him. "Sehun, come on. We're not gonna ignore you. Besides, maybe you'll meet someone. And you know it makes Junmyeon feel better to have you around to ward off creeps with your dead shark eyes."

"I'm not his bodyguard, Jongin," Sehun protests with a roll of his eyes, "and I can't help how my face looks."

 _It's not fair_ , he thinks, privately hurt. Although Jongin's build isn't entirely dissimilar from his own, no one ever asks _him_ to run interference like that. No one ever asks Jongin to be anything other than what he is—an omega—because Jongin is sweet and cute and has a certain naivete that alphas can smell on him from a mile away. If anything, _he's_ the one who needs looking after, and until Chanyeol came along, Sehun had certainly done his share of keeping an eye on Jongin's drinks and warding off any pushy alphas with a stern glare and a possessive arm around Jongin's shoulders, because as easy as it is for people to read Jongin for an omega, they're never as quick to think the same of Sehun.

But Sehun can't help the fact that he has that ramrod-straight posture and a broad chest and a naturally stoic facial expression. He can't help the fact that he feels a little uncomfortable trying too hard to fit the mold. He can't help the fact that alphas write him off before they even bother to get to know him at all. He wants a mate—god, he wants one so badly it hurts—but it's been so hard to find an alpha who isn't intimidated by an omega with his build or affect that he's all but given up hope of it ever happening. On the off chance he's expressed interest in an alpha, only a couple have asked him out, but it's never gone beyond the first date, and there are only so many times a guy can be sexually rejected before it starts to mess with his head.

So, Sehun mostly ends up dating betas. There always seems to be an unspoken expiration date looming over their heads, though—in the end, a beta will never be able to give him what he really wants, and both of them know it, so all of his fledgling relationships generally fizzle out after a month or two. It's been a few months since his last breakup, and it's clear to Sehun that Jongin is concerned about his well-being. Maybe if he puts in a little effort tonight, Jongin will let the matter rest for another month or so. He just has to get through one night of social torture. He can manage that.

"Fine," Sehun sighs. "I'll go. But you're buying the first round of drinks."

"You're on!" Jongin actually jumps up and down for glee. "Now get out of bed and go put on some tight pants. I'm getting you laid tonight if it kills me."

That throws Sehun for a loop. "Whoa, whoa, who said anything about that?"

"I did," Jongin says firmly. "Now get _up_."

Ω

"I've lost count—how many are we up to now? Three, four?"

Draining the rest of his beer, Sehun eyes the retreating back of the omega slinking away from him and puts his glass down with a sigh. "That was the third one of the night. I hate it here."

"We should get him a sign," Chanyeol continues, nudging Jongin. "Like, a big neon sign to hang around his neck that says 'OMEGA' in giant flashing letters. Maybe then they'd get a clue."

"Stop making fun," Jongin protests, swatting Chanyeol's arm, and Sehun doesn't miss the sidelong glance Jongin shoots in his direction. "It's not easy for an omega to approach an alpha—or, y'know, someone they take for an alpha—and you know it bothers him when he has to turn them down like that."

"I know, I know," Chanyeol mumbles, chastened. He flashes an apologetic smile at Sehun. "Sorry, dude. Just trying to lighten the mood a little."

Sehun shrugs and folds his arms, leaning against the barrier separating the bar area from the dancefloor. "Whatever. It's fine."

Chanyeol fidgets for a moment, shaking the ice cubes around in his glass. "Hey, either of you want another drink?" he asks suddenly, nodding at the mostly empty vodka soda clutched in Jongin's hand.

Sehun shakes his head, but Jongin hands Chanyeol his glass with a smile. "Thanks. Hurry back, all right?"

"Or don't," Sehun mumbles, just loud enough for Jongin to hear him as he waves Chanyeol off to the bar.

"C'mon, don't be mad at him," Jongin pleads once Chanyeol's out of earshot. "He puts his foot in it sometimes, but he doesn't mean any harm."

"Sure."

"Sehun," Jongin whines, landing a soft punch on his upper arm. "I really like him, and I want you to like him, too. He likes you, for what it's worth. I think he just finds you a little unnerving sometimes."

"Him and every other alpha on the planet, it seems." Sehun scowls. "Buncha cowards. I'm done with them. Betas or bust."

"Yeah, you say that now, but every time you meet a nice one, you always find some dumb reason to break it off," Jongin points out.

"I do not!" Sehun insists. "Remember I found out that one guy smoked? Totally valid reason to call it quits."

"Maybe." Jongin purses his lips, skepticism written all over his face. "But I think it's because you don't want to tell them the real reason, which is that you're still secretly waiting for your dream alpha to sweep you off your feet and onto his big fat knot."

"La la la la la la la!" Sehun yells, covering his ears, which are currently burning with embarrassment. "What's that? I can't hear you!"

Jongin wraps both hands around his elbow and yanks, almost forcing Sehun off-balance. "You're so immature. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's in our nature, and besides, it feels _incred_ —"

"Noooooo," Sehun wails, wresting his arm away from Jongin's to cover his ears again. "I already have to hear the bed creaking while you have sex in the next room! I don't need the details!"

"You're no fun," Jongin pouts, leaning against the table with his chin in one hand.

"Why the long face, sweetheart? This guy giving you a hard time?"

Sehun and Jongin look up to see an unfamiliar man—an alpha, and a hulking one at that—looming over them. Jongin edges away from him as surreptitiously as possible and wraps a hand around Sehun's wrist under the high-top.

Sehun squares his shoulders and shakes his head, trying to play the alpha even as he silently attempts to summon Chanyeol—or even Junmyeon, who had broken off from their little group almost immediately upon arriving at the club, ostensibly to hunt down that bartender—through sheer willpower alone. "We were just—"

"I wasn't asking you," the alpha says curtly, fixing him with a hard look before he turns his gaze back on Jongin. "If he's not showing you a good time tonight, I'd be happy to step in. Someone as good-looking as you… well, nobody puts Baby in a corner and all that, y'know what I'm sayin'?"

Sehun snorts at the dated reference, which is apparently the wrong thing to do, because the guy rounds on him faster than Sehun can think, _Oh god, I've made a huge mistake_.

"You wanna go, pal?" The guy takes a step toward him. "'Cause I've had a bad day, and I really wouldn't mind kicking your ass right now."

Sehun tries to take a step back, but the heel of his shoe comes up against that metal barrier behind him. _Shit._ Nowhere to hide.

"Whatever you're about to do, please don't," Jongin begs, throwing himself in front of Sehun and looking up at the pissed-off alpha, whom Sehun privately refers to as Lurch. "He's not my boyfriend. My boyfriend is at the bar getting me a refill. Sehun was just looking out for me because he's an omega, too."

"Bullshit," Lurch scoffs, looking Sehun up and down. "Never seen an omega who looks like that."

"Show him your ID," Jongin hisses.

Heat rushes into Sehun's face. "I am not going to show him my ID, Jongin!"

"We got a problem here?"

Sehun, Jongin, and Lurch all whip their heads toward the new voice to see a short fellow—an omega, Sehun guesses, based on his looks and general vibe, but he could be a beta, too—standing next to their high-top with his arms folded and one hip cocked to the side. He looks thoroughly unimpressed with the tableau before him.

"You mind telling me exactly why you're harassing my friends here, Lurch?"

Tickled that this guy had the same exact thought as he did, Sehun forgets to be freaked out for a moment and bursts out laughing before thinking better of it and clapping his hands over his mouth.

"Here's a little pro tip from me to you," Sehun's new favorite person says to Lurch, resting one arm on the table and gesturing toward Jongin and Sehun with the other. "Body language one-oh-one. Does anything about the way they're acting suggest they want you anywhere near them?"

Lurch stares at him, and New Guy snaps his fingers impatiently. "Hello? Answer, please?"

Lurch glances at Jongin and Sehun and takes a step back. "No."

"You're a regular genius," New Guy says in a deadpan voice, slow clapping. "A-plus for you. Now, why don't you—" With a mocking smile, New Guy uses two fingers to mime legs walking away. "—go fuck off back to wherever you came from, all right? How's that sound?"

Lurch scowls at him. "Yeah, whatever, fuck you. I'm leaving."

"Oh, and one more thing, Lurch," New Guy yells at his retreating back. "Lay off the juice! That Mr. Universe thing you're going for? Not a good look for you!" Lurch flips him the bird without turning around, prompting New Guy to snicker and shout, "Ya burnt!"

"Thank you so much," Jongin says with an enormous sigh of relief, finally stepping away from Sehun.

New Guy smiles. "No trouble at all, seriously. You guys okay?"

Sehun nods, but he can tell Jongin still looks kind of uneasy. "You wanna go find Chanyeol?"

Jongin bites his lip and nods. "Do you mind? I don't wanna leave you here, but…"

"I'm fine, seriously, don't worry about me," Sehun insists, hitching a thumb at New Guy. "I'll just hang out with our new friend here until you guys get back."

He shoos Jongin away toward the bar, and it's only then that he realizes he's set himself up for small talk with a stranger. _Shit._

"So, uh… thanks again for stepping in like that." Sehun offers New Guy a little smile. "I think Jongin would have been scraping me off the floor right about now if you hadn't swooped in and saved my ass."

"No, no, happy to help. Just sorry you had to deal with all that shit in the first place," New Guy says with a little grimace, sidling up to Sehun and picking up his empty pint glass. "I don't suppose you'd let me get you another drink to make up for it?"

"That—that's really generous of you," Sehun stammers, dreading having to reject yet another hopeful omega, "but I'm not sure how much of that conversation you overheard before you showed up, so I should probably tell you that I'm—"

"—what, an omega?" New Guy tilts his head, a funny little smile on his face. "Yeah, I know." He laughs in seeming disbelief when he catches on to Sehun’s train of thought. "Wait, did you think _I_ was an omega?"

Sehun momentarily seizes up in horror, his face burning hot with embarrassment as he realizes exactly why this guy was able to scare away that asshole just a minute ago. It should have been obvious, and Sehun doesn't know why it didn't kick in until just now.

"Oh, shit," he groans. "Y-you’re—"

"An alpha, yeah," New Guy finishes for him.

He looks Sehun up and down, not in a sleazy way but rather as if he's studying him, trying to get a sense of who he's dealing with. Sehun's stomach does a backflip, and he's not sure if it's because he's nervous or because he likes the attention—maybe both.

"Funny," the alpha says finally, "you’d think someone who probably gets prejudged based on his appearance would know better than to make an assumption like that."

Sehun would like to vanish into the ether right this second, but no, he’s stuck here, looking like a complete ass in front of this very good-looking alpha who had just saved him from having his teeth knocked out and who was probably into him until he had to go and open his stupid mouth.

"Listen, it’s fine," the alpha says, putting Sehun out of his misery. "I know what I look like. You’re not the first person to take me for an omega—or a beta, for that matter—and I’m sure you won’t be the last, so don’t feel bad. Just let me buy you that drink, all right?"

Sehun wouldn’t mind another beer; paradoxically, being a little more drunk would probably make him feel a little less stupid. He nods, and the brilliant smile that spreads across the alpha’s face in response gives Sehun a ridiculous case of the butterflies.

The alpha tentatively reaches out toward Sehun, his hand hovering in the air near Sehun’s wrist. "Do you mind if I… ?"

"What? O-oh, sure," Sehun stutters.

He holds out his hand, and the alpha takes it, wrapping his fingers around Sehun's and pulling him gently in the direction of the bar.

"You got a name, omega?" the alpha asks, looking over his shoulder at Sehun.

Sehun nods, holding his free hand up to his mouth to magnify his voice over the loud music. "Sehun. You?"

"I’m Baekhyun," the alpha replies, expertly weaving through the throng of clubgoers until he and Sehun manage to squeeze themselves into a gap in the line around the bar.

Baekhyun flags down one of the bartenders, who clearly recognizes him because he bypasses the other waiting patrons in favor of walking down to their end of the bar. He looks familiar—Sehun's definitely seen him working before—but he doesn't know the guy's name.

"What’ll it be?" the bartender asks, and Baekhyun looks expectantly at Sehun.

"Oh, uhhh— I’ll have another pint of the saison, I guess," he tells the bartender, then glances at Baekhyun, a tiny smile pulling at his lips. "Thanks."

"Okay, so, a saison for my new friend Sehun, and then I will have…" Baekhyun’s mouth forms a little pout as he deliberates, and _wow_ , Sehun should not find it as charming as he does. "Ah, fuck it, I’m getting a Mai Tai."

"You mean a _real_ Mai Tai," the bartender says with a smirk, "or the shitty tiki bar tourist trap bullshit with the orange juice and pineapple in it?"

"Yes, that one," Baekhyun says primly. "And I want a paper umbrella in it, too."

The bartender clasps his hands together and briefly looks at the ceiling as if he's praying for strength. "You are the actual bane of my existence. I hate you so much."

"Just consider yourself lucky that I didn't order something tacky, like a sex on the beach." Baekhyun grins, letting go of Sehun’s hand to fish around in his wallet until he finds his credit card, which he hands over with a dramatic flourish. "You can leave the tab open for now, Jongdae."

"I swear to god, Baekhyun, if you leave your card here again, I’m not bringing it home for you."

"Compromise," Baekhyun says, tapping on the bar. "You bring it home, and you can give yourself a thirty-percent tip for the inconvenience."

Jongdae narrows his eyes and stares at Baekhyun for a moment, thinking it over. "Fine," he says with a weary sigh, grabbing one pint glass and one highball glass off the counter behind the bar before he walks off to make their drinks.

Sehun watches Jongdae work for a moment, casually hoping that he and Baekhyun aren’t A Thing, and glances over at Baekhyun. "So he’s your…"

"Roommate, and my best friend," Baekhyun says with a sly smile, nudging Sehun with his elbow, "so don’t go getting jealous on me already."

"I wasn’t," Sehun protests automatically, crossing his arms and focusing very intently on whatever Jongdae is doing behind the bar.

"Sure," Baekhyun says, his voice dripping with skepticism, but he's still smiling. "So, what's a cute omega like you doing here all on your own? Third-wheelin' it with your friend and his date, or am I stealing you from someone?"

Sehun tries not to look too pleased by the compliment, but it's nice to be thought of as cute for once instead of cold and standoffish. "Nope, it's just me. That was my roommate, Jongin. He's the one who dragged me out here tonight. Oh, shit—" Sehun pulls his phone out of his pocket. "Hang on, lemme shoot him a text so he doesn't freak out when he comes back and we're gone."

Jongdae comes back with their drinks while Sehun taps out a message to Jongin, and when Sehun puts his phone away, he looks up to see Baekhyun holding out his beer for him to take.

"There's an open high-top over there," Baekhyun says, nodding at a table not too far from where they're standing. "C'mon."

Clutching his cocktail—which, Sehun observes with amusement, is decked out with a pineapple wedge, a cherry, _and_ that paper umbrella, to Jongdae's credit—in one hand, Baekhyun takes Sehun's hand in the other and leads him over to the empty table.

Sehun glances down at their joined hands and notes with dismay that even Baekhyun's hands are delicate and pretty, with long, thin fingers that Sehun can't allow himself to think about for too long, lest his scent glands go into overdrive. It's not fair that this alpha looks more like an omega than Sehun does. A little piece of him wishes he could swap bodies with Baekhyun, even if only for a day, just to know what it would be like to actually look the part he's been stuck playing ever since he presented.

"You look like you're thinking _very_ hard about something," Baekhyun remarks from across the table, a shrewd look in his eyes. "If it's me you're worried about… I promise I don't bite, and I know how to keep my hands to myself. Not to pull out a tired line or anything, but I'm not one of _those_ alphas." He rests his forearms on the tabletop. "But I totally understand if you wanna go find your friend—"

"No, no," Sehun interrupts him, shaking his head fervently. "I'm fine. I was just thinking, like… you're the first person in a while who hasn't mistaken me for an alpha."

"See, now, that is just _wild_ to me," Baekhyun laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. He takes a sip of his cocktail and rolls his eyes. "People are so fuckin' lazy, I swear. They give you the hairy eyeball for all of three seconds and think that tells them everything they need to know about you. I mean, sure, _I_ clocked you for an omega the second I clapped eyes on you, but it's not 'cause of how you _look_."

Sehun lifts his beer to his lips, perplexed. "How'd you guess, then?"

"It's… I dunno, it was like an instinctive thing," Baekhyun says slowly, struggling to find the right words. "Something in the way you move—just little things, I can't say exactly what. The way you kinda shrank back when that prick was harassing you and your friend definitely confirmed it, though. Not that I blame you for having that reaction!" he clarifies. "I fuckin' hate those kinda guys. They make the rest of us look like animals, even in human form." His lip curls in disgust, and he takes a swig of his drink. "It was just… well, I guess I've never seen anyone with shoulders that big try to make himself look small."

Sehun cringes, imagining how ridiculous he must have looked. "You must have thought I was such a coward."

"Not at all," Baekhyun says earnestly. "I thought… I dunno. It made me wonder whether you'd had a bad experience with a guy like that in the past, like it was bringing up memories of a shitty ex or something, and…" It's Baekhyun's turn to cringe now, and he shakes his head, eyes downcast. "God, I sound like _suuuuuch_ a friggin' white knight. I should just quit while I'm ahead, while you still like me."

He shoots Sehun a sly glance through his eyelashes, clearly gauging his reaction to that obvious line, and the move is so forthright and charmingly calculating that it shocks a little laugh out of Sehun.

"You're awfully sure of yourself," Sehun retorts, his lips pinched together in a taunting smile. "Who said anything about me liking you?"

Baekhyun shoots him a pleading, puppyish look in protest, and Sehun almost stamps his foot on the floor at the unfairness of it all. _No alpha has any right to be this cute_ , he thinks, taking a long drink from his glass before setting it down on the table and waving an impatient hand. "All right, c'mon, just say what you were gonna say already."

"Fine," Baekhyun sighs, clearly trying to seem put-upon, but he drops the silliness when he sees the expectant look on Sehun's face. "I just got… I dunno, annoyed, I guess? I mean, that asshole clearly wasn't listening to you two, and I couldn't just stand by and watch. I was just trying to do that whole, y'know, 'step up, fix the broken system from the inside' thing you hear all the omega rights activists talking about." He swirls the contents of his glass using the narrow little straw tucked between the ice cubes as he makes a funny little movement with his shoulders, something like a slightly manic shrug. "Sorry, sorry, I know I'm talking way too much."

Sehun's stomach flip-flops, but in a pleasant way that makes him feel like he's floating. "Well, regardless of your motivation, I'm glad you stepped in. And you're not talking too much," he adds, smiling shyly behind the lip of his glass. "Or even if you are, I don't mind."

" _That_ ," Baekhyun says, pointing at Sehun's face. "Whoever told you that you don't act like an omega has clearly never seen that expression on your face. Jesus, you're _adorable_."

"I'm not, really," Sehun deflects, taking another swig of his beer in a fruitless effort to stop the flush of heat crawling up his neck. He wipes the corner of his mouth with a thumb and shrugs. "I'm awkward and gangly and I have zero charisma and my torso is too long and my legs are too short by comparison and—"

"Who filled your head with all these lies?" Baekhyun demands, slapping the table. "C'mon, I want names and addresses. I might not look like much right now, but I like to think my wolf is pretty damn fearsome."

"Oh, I believe you," Sehun says with a wan smile. "And it's not anything anyone said, it's just… I dunno, I look at all the others and it just makes me wonder if someone made a mistake when I presented. It's not that I _mind_ being an omega, I just… don't fit the profile."

"Well, appearances can be deceiving," Baekhyun says, tilting his head from side to side. "Maybe you don't _look_ like a typical omega at first glance, but you're still hot, regardless, and you are sure as shit activating my 'must protect at all costs' instinct right now, so clearly you're doing something right."

" _Stop_ ," Sehun demurs, but he can't suppress the bashful smile that takes over his face.

"No, _you_ stop," Baekhyun retorts playfully, pointing his straw at Sehun. "God, I only met you, what, twenty minutes ago? And I'm already, like, _this fucking close_ to begging you to come home with me so I can demonstrate to you in great detail exactly how attracted to you I am."

Sehun could never have anticipated those words coming out of Baekhyun's mouth, nor could he have guessed exactly how strongly his body would respond to them. He inhales sharply, suddenly acutely aware of his beating heart, the individual droplets of sweat on the back of his neck, the heavy warm feeling that starts somewhere behind his navel and migrates downward, alerting him to the fact that he is _rapidly_ becoming aroused.

Baekhyun's nose twitches once, and then a second time as he tries—and fails—to take an inconspicuous whiff of Sehun's scent. A little shiver takes hold of him for a moment, and the way he shakes his head to snap himself out of it and blinks his eyes open again, looking dazed as he refocuses on Sehun's face, is almost enough to take Sehun's breath away.

" _Jesus._ " Baekhyun shakes his head with a soft laugh, gripping the edge of the table as if the force of Sehun's scent wafting toward him had nearly knocked him over. He leans into it, a teasing smirk on his face. "Is that what you want? You want me to take you home and tell you how pretty you are, omega?"

Pure _need_ surges through Sehun's entire body. This is all happening so fast, but he can't find it in himself to care because that creature of instinct who lives deep in his soul wants it so much, feels this desire so intensely that Sehun can't even speak for a few seconds because it feels like he's choking on his own lust.

"God, you even smell pretty," Baekhyun marvels, half slumped against the tabletop with his chin resting on one hand, gazing up at Sehun with a dreamy smile on his face. "Like— like— I don't know what it is, but _god_ , I want my sheets to smell like you tomorrow morning."

Sehun's ears are on fire and his cock is starting to press against his jeans and he feels like he's about to lose his fucking mind… and it's the best he's felt in _ages_.

"You're— you're a little forward, aren't you?" he says finally, managing a weak laugh.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Baekhyun sighs, clapping his hands over his face. He drops them after a moment, smiling sheepishly as he tentatively reaches across the table to touch Sehun's hand. "Honestly, I don't care if we don't do anything more than make out on my couch. I mean that. I just… wanna see you more. See more of you. Whatever you want."

Sehun's heart skips a beat, and he turns his hand over, catching Baekhyun's hand before he can pull away.

"I'm down with that," he says, glancing down at the table where he's playing with Baekhyun's fingers and finding himself unable to think about anything beyond the many ways in which Baekhyun could touch him. He looks up at Baekhyun, offering him a little smile and trying to appear calm despite the fact that he can feel himself growing harder with every second that passes. "But I'm okay with doing other stuff, too."

Baekhyun stares at him for a few seconds, his mouth slightly open, but he manages to pull himself together, standing up straight. "Then we have to go, like, _right now_ ," he says briskly, taking one last sip of his drink and leaving the glass half full.

"What about closing out your tab?" Sehun teases him, leaving his own half-finished beer and edging around the table to stand closer to Baekhyun. "Don't you need to get your card back?"

With a shake of his head, Baekhyun takes Sehun's hand, lacing their fingers this time. "Jongdae can take care of it," he says, a cheeky smirk on his face as he leads Sehun toward the exit. "I've got better things to do."

Ω

Sehun squeezes his legs together, uncomfortably aware of his arousal as he waits for Baekhyun to unlock the door to his apartment. He's glad he'd settled on the black jeans and underwear combo this evening, because it's bad enough that Baekhyun can probably— _definitely_ , he corrects himself—smell how turned on he is, but it would be that much more embarrassing if he could actually see how he'd practically soaked through his jeans during the ride to Baekhyun's place.

Everything had only gotten more overwhelming in the dark, enclosed space of the rideshare they'd taken back from the club, Baekhyun's palm running up and down Sehun's thigh while Sehun gripped the edge of the seat so hard he thought his fingers would punch straight through the upholstery. It was the closest to Baekhyun he'd been all night, with the exception of the few minutes they'd spent waiting for their drinks at the bar, but there were too many people around them muddling the air for Sehun to be able to pick Baekhyun's scent out of the crowd. It's only when they're sitting shoulder to shoulder in the back seat that he understands why—for an alpha, Baekhyun's scent is remarkably subtle, yet still complex: a bright kind of sweetness, tempered by something warm and earthy and a whisper of something tart and peppery that tickles the inside of Sehun's nose at first. It makes sense to him when he connects all the dots in his head: Baekhyun's scent is like… like the warmth of the spring sun shining on his face, down to the way it makes him want to sneeze the first time he catches a whiff of it. Something about it makes him feel… happy. Safe.

Un-fucking- _bearably_ horny.

Baekhyun finally gets the door open and leads Sehun in, locking up behind them and hanging his keys from the hook on the wall beside the door.

"Do you want anything?" Baekhyun asks as they slip out of their shoes, glancing up at Sehun and giving his hand a light squeeze. "Water? Soda? I can make coffee, if you want—"

"No, no, I'm okay," Sehun says in a soft voice. "Thank you."

The entrance to Baekhyun's apartment leads straight into the living room, so Baekhyun gestures at the couch (which is really more of a loveseat, Sehun observes dejectedly, thinking of his lanky frame). "You wanna sit?"

Sehun sucks on his lower lip, trying to phrase his thoughts in a way that doesn't make him sound completely desperate. "Can we— could we maybe just go in your room?" he asks. "I just— your couch is kinda small and I'm kinda…"

"Tall? Statuesque? The very image of Adonis?" Baekhyun finishes for him, eyebrows slightly raised. "Yes, yes, you are."

Sehun looks down, biting back a smile. "You know what I mean."

"I do, and I'm not hearing a word of it for the rest of the night," Baekhyun says, his lower lip jutting out stubbornly. He takes both of Sehun's hands and starts walking backwards toward a door just off the living room. "When I say I'm gonna take you home and tell you how pretty you are, I fuckin' _mean_ it."

With that, he pushes the slightly ajar door open with his foot and guides Sehun into his room, letting go of him just long enough to turn on the floor lamp that stands in one corner of the room. Sehun waits just inside the doorway, looking around. It's fairly tidy, and Sehun can't help but wonder if Baekhyun is naturally a neat person or if he'd cleaned up in hopes of going out and getting lucky tonight. The desk pushed against the wall opposite the bed is perhaps the one exception—it's littered with papers and books and an assortment of charging cables in addition to his computer.

"You game?" Sehun asks, nodding toward the high-end gaming rig that takes up most of the desk space.

Baekhyun lights up, nodding eagerly. "Yeah! How about you?"

Sehun nods. "Jongin and I used to play a lot of WoW back in the day, but I've kind of switched over to PUBG, for the most part."

"Oh, cool—I play PUBG, too!" Baekhyun crosses the room again to close the door, and he sounds so excited by this shared interest of theirs that Sehun thinks Baekhyun is someone he might like to keep around as a friend, even if things don't go anywhere between them after tonight. He reaches out to touch Sehun's arm with a little smile. "Maybe we could play together sometime."

"Yeah," Sehun says dumbly, his mouth suddenly a little dry. He knows he isn't drunk, but Baekhyun smells so bright and warm and he's smiling so beautifully that it makes Sehun feel _silly_ , like he's got little cartoon birds floating around his head or something. "That— that would be fun."

"Glad we got that settled." Baekhyun looks up at him, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. "I've got another proposition for you, if you're interested."

Sehun has never been more interested in anything in his entire life. "Yeah?"

"Well, I've been wanting to kiss you for, like, an hour," Baekhyun murmurs, edging closer, "so… can I?"

Sehun nods and leans in, lifting his hands to cradle Baekhyun's face just before their lips touch. A soft whimper of longing slips out of his throat when Baekhyun's hands settle at his waist, and Baekhyun sighs and pulls out of the kiss, still close enough to rub the tip of his nose against Sehun's.

"You can't make sweet little noises like that, omega," Baekhyun says, kissing him a little more firmly. "It makes me want to find out what else I can do to make you sound like that."

The teasing, conspiratorial tone of his voice elicits another strangled moan from Sehun, and Baekhyun kisses him again, answering him with an impatient little sound of his own.

"Sehun, what did I just say?" Baekhyun laughs softly, kneading at Sehun's sides through his T-shirt. "Ah, you know what? It's okay. You've been waiting so patiently, and I've done nothing but tease you since we met. Very unfair of me to play with you like this when I can smell just how badly you want me."

Sehun is so hard he can barely stand it, and knowing that Baekhyun knows it makes his whole entire body run hot, though he can't say for sure whether it's due to embarrassment or desire. Either way, hearing Baekhyun speak to him like this feels so _good_. He lets his hands fall away from Baekhyun's face, arms winding around his shoulders instead as he steals another kiss.

"Please, alpha," Sehun whispers, shamelessly leaning into his sudden, instinctive urge to submit. He noses at Baekhyun's cheek and inhales the scent pouring off him, dimly registering the way Baekhyun's grip tightens when Sehun calls him _alpha_. "Baekhyun. Want you so much."

"I know, I know," Baekhyun says placatingly, nuzzling at Sehun's neck. "And you will have me, I promise." Baekhyun lifts a hand to Sehun's chin, turning his head until their eyes meet again. "But you didn't come here just to get fucked, did you?"

Sehun flinches, his face scrunching up in humiliation as he shakes his head.

"Eyes open, please," Baekhyun says, shaking Sehun's chin in his hand, and Sehun squints, slowly opening his eyes to see Baekhyun looking at him with kindness in his face. "Look," he says, his hand falling to Sehun's chest, "I know we're basically strangers, but I think you're cute, and you deserve to know that you don't have to look or act a certain way to be desirable. The omega ideal is kinda bullshit, and anyone who would write you off on looks alone doesn't deserve you, anyway."

Sehun gapes at him for a moment, thrown by his candor, but then Baekhyun flashes him a nervous little smile, clearly awaiting a reaction, and Sehun can't help himself. He bows his head to meet Baekhyun's lips again, and he finds himself more grateful than ever for the tiny suppressant chip embedded in his arm, because if it weren't there, he's dead certain that little speech would have triggered the worst heat of his entire life.

" _Alpha_ ," he mumbles between kisses, uncurling Baekhyun's fingers from where they've clutched a fistful of his T-shirt. He takes Baekhyun's hand and brings it down into the narrow gap between their bodies, holding Baekhyun's palm against the pronounced outline of his erection. "Please, _please_ , help me—"

Baekhyun shudders, his forehead falling against Sehun's shoulder. His hand moves under Sehun's, molding to the shape of his cock, and he inhales deeply. " _Fuck_ ," he whispers with feeling, letting out another little moan as he drags his palm up and down Sehun's length. "Take it all off. I wanna see you." 

Baekhyun's hand lingers for a moment, almost reluctant to stop touching him, but finally he takes a few steps back from Sehun and perches on the edge of his desk, leaning back on his hands with one ankle crossed over the other and an expectant look on his face.

"Well?" he says, and just when Sehun thought he couldn't possibly be any wetter at this point, Baekhyun _smirks_. "Go on, then."

"I'll take my clothes off, but striptease is where I draw the line," Sehun says pettishly, wringing the hem of his T-shirt in his hands. "Close your eyes."

Baekhyun laughs. "Absolutely not."

" _Fine_ ," Sehun says haughtily, turning his back on Baekhyun and glancing over his shoulder as he pulls his shirt up and over his head. "Nothing to see here."

"Au contraire, mon frère," Baekhyun says with interest, and Sehun turns his head to face front, too shy to watch Baekhyun's eyes raking over his body the way they surely are right now. "I haven't gotten to enjoy this view yet." Sehun hears a little hum of contentment behind him. "Very nice. Please proceed."

Warmed by Baekhyun's flattery, Sehun undoes the fastenings of his jeans and slowly, so slowly, starts to slide them down from his hips, mostly to avoid catching the zipper on his sensitive cock, but maybe also to tease Baekhyun a little bit, give him a taste of his own medicine.

It seems to work, judging by the soft groan that passes Baekhyun's lips when Sehun's got his pants all the way off, socks joining the pile of clothes on the floor as well.

"God, look at you," Baekhyun says, and he sounds _awed_. "You have the most incredible body."

Sehun hears the creak of the desk and footsteps on the carpet behind him, and he inhales sharply when Baekhyun's hands settle on his hips, his warm breath ghosting along Sehun's spine.

"You're so _broad_ ," Baekhyun whispers, dotting kisses across the width of Sehun's shoulders, "and yet—" His hands glide up from Sehun's hips to his waist. "—fuck, look at your _waist_. The contrast is just… _god_." Sehun feels Baekhyun's forehead press against one of his shoulder blades. "So fucking hot."

Sehun exhales shakily as Baekhyun's hands slide around to his front, thinking they're going to slip beneath the band of his underwear, but instead Baekhyun drags his palms up Sehun's chest, fingertips tracing the faint definition of Sehun's pectorals.

"Ah, your chest feels so nice," Baekhyun sighs, rubbing his cheek against Sehun's back as his thumbs flick back and forth over Sehun's nipples. "Do you give good hugs? Mmm, I bet you give really good hugs."

"I— I don't know," Sehun stammers, his head automatically tilting to one side when Baekhyun leans into him heavily—he must be standing on tiptoe, Sehun thinks absently—and starts to nuzzle his neck, leaving soft, wet kisses here and there.

"Well," Baekhyun murmurs, fingertips rubbing little circles around Sehun's nipples until Sehun whimpers and reaches up to clutch his hands in desperation. "We can test that particular hypothesis of mine later."

Gently shaking his hands free of Sehun's grip, Baekhyun trails his fingertips down Sehun's body, huffing out a laugh into his neck at the little yelp Sehun lets out when Baekhyun hits a ticklish spot.

"Your skin is so soft," Baekhyun says with such wonder, running a hand across the lowest part of Sehun's belly, just over the band of his boxer briefs. "Feels so good just to touch you."

"Please," Sehun whispers, his hands curling into fists and then relaxing in an involuntary attempt to bring himself some relief. "Baekhyun. _Alpha._ Touch me."

"Okay, okay," Baekhyun says, his voice soothing in Sehun's ear. "I will."

He hooks his thumbs underneath the band and tugs his underwear down until it clears Sehun's backside and frees his erection. Baekhyun leaves it bunched around the apex of Sehun's thighs and wraps an arm around his waist, holding him fast as his other hand grasps Sehun's cock.

"Oh, you're big everywhere, aren't you?" Baekhyun says, clearly amused as he gives it a few strokes. "I imagine this has to be at least part of the reason why you get pegged for an alpha at first glance."

"M-maybe," Sehun gasps, glancing down to watch Baekhyun's pretty fingers at work.

"Well, like I said—people are lazy thinkers. Not every alpha has a massive cock, y'know." Baekhyun pulls Sehun back against his body and grinds against his ass with intent, and it's evident from his tone that there is most definitely a smirk on his face. "Present company excluded, of course."

"Oh, _fuck_ ," Sehun moans, groping for the closest object he can grab onto, which ends up being the post of Baekhyun's headboard.

"All in due time, omega, all in due time," Baekhyun teases him, kissing his shoulder. "Gonna make you come first."

Suddenly, he lets go of Sehun entirely, and Sehun nearly shouts in protest, but then Baekhyun steps to the side and turns to sit on the edge of the bed, scooting sideways until he's sitting right in front of Sehun.

"Mmm, I like this view, too," Baekhyun says, trailing his gaze up Sehun's body and meeting his eyes with another butterfly-inducing smile. He lifts his hands to Sehun's hips, but instead of leaving them there, he slides them around until he's clutching Sehun's ass, one cheek in each hand. "There's just a slight obstruction I need to take care of."

With that, Baekhyun tilts his head down, using his tongue to catch the head of Sehun's cock and guide it into his mouth. Sehun cries out, hips jerking forward, but he's chastened by the way Baekhyun digs his fingernails into his ass and arches an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, sorry," Sehun whimpers, grip tightening almost painfully around the bedstead so he can be more gentle with his other hand, which he uses to awkwardly pet Baekhyun's hair and cheek. "Th-that feels really good, alpha. Thank you."

Baekhyun's eyes crinkle up at the corners, and he pulls off of Sehun's cock for a moment, taking it in his hand again to stroke it. "You are so fucking cute," he says, chuckling quietly and lapping intermittently at the underside of Sehun's dick. "No need to thank me. You coming in my mouth is all the thanks I need."

Sehun chokes out another moan as the wet heat of Baekhyun's mouth envelops him once more, fingers forming a tight circle around his cock that moves with every bob of Baekhyun's head. The way his tongue rolls against the shaft, flicks against and curls around the tip, is so pleasurable it's almost unbearable, and it doesn't help matters, the way Baekhyun looks up through his eyelashes like that, watching his reactions so intently that it makes slick start to creep down between Sehun's thighs.

Judging from the way his eyelids flutter shut and the way he moans around Sehun's cock, Baekhyun must be able to smell it, or sense it, or… something. Sehun isn't really sure how it works for alphas, doesn't know if they're always hyper-attuned to that kind of thing or if sex makes their noses even sharper, and he'd rather die than ask one of his friends, so it remains a mystery to him for now. Regardless, after allowing himself to revel in Sehun's reactions for a few moments, Baekhyun redoubles his efforts, his mouth sloppy and wet and hot around Sehun's cock. It's fucking _perfect_ , which explains why it doesn't take long for Baekhyun to finish him off, stroking his shaft as he swallows down everything Sehun gives him.

Baekhyun releases him with one last soft suck to the tip and clutches the backs of Sehun's thighs, leaning forward to kiss and nuzzle at his belly. Sehun squirms from ticklishness, and Baekhyun hums lowly, running his hands up and down Sehun's legs as if to comfort him in some way.

"You're trembling," he remarks, rubbing his cheek against the softness of Sehun's skin. "Come sit."

Baekhyun tugs on Sehun's legs as if to pull him into his lap, but Sehun locks his knees and holds tight to the headboard. "I can't."

Baekhyun's tongue flicks out at his navel, and he grins when Sehun yelps. "Why not?"

"Because," Sehun mumbles, heat rising up the back of his neck, "I'll— I'll make a mess."

"You think I don't know that?" Baekhyun lifts an eyebrow. "You've been wet ever since we got in the car. I'm surprised you didn't leave a trail behind you on the way up here."

"You—" Sehun pouts at him, his stomach doing a backflip. "You're just determined to embarrass me, aren't you?"

Baekhyun looks up at him, the picture of innocence, and presses his lips to the jut of Sehun's hip bone. "Who, me?"

"Yes, _you_ ," Sehun grumbles, poking his cheek.

"I'm only playing, omega," Baekhyun says, hugging Sehun around the waist with his face pushed into Sehun's stomach. "Besides, I don't mind a little mess. In fact, if you hop up on the bed here, I'll even help you clean up…"

He drags his tongue suggestively against Sehun's abdomen, and Sehun grips his shoulder with a little gasp when he picks up on Baekhyun's meaning.

"Would you like that?" Baekhyun asks, sitting back to meet Sehun's eyes. His hands find Sehun's ass again, massaging it with his fingers as he teasingly spreads Sehun's cheeks apart. "You want me to give you a little tongue bath?"

Sehun stares down at him for a few seconds, mouth hanging open. "I— I've— N-no one's ever…"

"Eaten you out?" Baekhyun says, clearly stunned by this news. "How could anyone catch a glimpse of you from the back and not immediately want to be tongue-deep inside of you?"

"Oh my god, _Baekhyun_ ," Sehun whispers bashfully, covering his face.

"I'm just saying!" Baekhyun stands up and curls his hands around Sehun's wrists, tugging his hands away from his face and holding them there as he looks up at Sehun, his gaze warm but still serious. "Look, if you're not interested, that's completely fine, but if you are…" He shifts his grip to hold Sehun's hands properly. "… then this is something I would really like to do for you, if you'll let me."

Sehun takes in the hopeful look on Baekhyun's face and has to suck on his lower lip to hold back a smile. "Okay," he agrees, tilting his head down for a kiss before he shakes free of Baekhyun's grip. Pushing his underwear down and stepping out of it, he climbs up onto the bed, his cheeks burning hot as he sinks down onto his elbows and presents himself.

To Sehun's surprise (and maybe a little private satisfaction), Baekhyun makes a little noise in the back of his throat, something between an appreciative hum and a low growl.

"You do that very nicely," he comments, and Sehun muffles a tiny gasp in the crook of his elbow as Baekhyun's hands settle on his ass again. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm—" Sehun lets out a shuddering sigh. "I'm all right."

Baekhyun makes a soft sound of acknowledgment and uses his thumbs to pull Sehun's cheeks taut. "I'm gonna take good care of you, omega," he says, and Sehun shivers at the warmth of Baekhyun's breath on his skin. "Just say the word and I'll stop."

Sehun flashes a thumbs-up over his shoulder, too shy to speak, and Baekhyun huffs out a laugh.

"So fucking cute," he says under his breath just before he tastes Sehun for the first time, his tongue soft and relaxed as he runs it over Sehun's balls and drags it upwards, licking along the trail of slick leaking out of his body.

The tip of his tongue just barely brushes across Sehun's hole as Baekhyun pulls back, and it takes a moment for Sehun to register that the deep, quivering moan he hears is actually coming out of his own mouth. He doesn't even recall crying out; it's as if the tremulous sound were ripped from his lungs by some unseen force. Baekhyun repeats the motion, deliberately unhurried, and Sehun makes the same sound, embarrassed but unable to help himself. Nothing has ever made him feel this uninhibited, this… this _feral_.

"No one's ever moaned for me like that before, omega," Baekhyun says with a note of… is it reverence? Sehun is too dazed to say for sure. "I'm almost afraid to find out what you're gonna do when I've actually got my tongue inside you."

He runs the flat of his tongue across Sehun's hole then, and Sehun has to stifle a series of dry sobs in his elbow when Baekhyun keeps doing it. It feels so incredible he almost doesn't care if they do nothing else but this for the rest of the evening, if not for the rest of his entire life.

"Stop trying to hide it," Baekhyun scolds him gently with a little tap on the ass. "I want to hear you."

Sehun turns his head and rests it against his forearms, panting. "Yes, alpha."

"Oh no," Baekhyun says firmly, lightly petting Sehun's entrance with the pad of his forefinger. "You're not allowed to call me that right now."

Sehun pushes his hips back with a gasp. "W-why not?"

"Because," Baekhyun says imperiously, slipping the tip of his finger into Sehun and licking around the rim, "it makes me want to fuck you, and you aren't nearly ready for that."

Still, Baekhyun's finger slides into him with ease, and Sehun moans as he pumps it in and out, stretching him open with his knuckle against the rim.

"Does that feel good, omega?" Baekhyun asks, his fingertip rubbing slow circles inside of Sehun. "You want more?"

" _Please_ ," Sehun begs, feeling his soft cock start to stir in response to Baekhyun's touches. "Please, al— Baekhyun."

"Good boy," Baekhyun hums delightedly, and Sehun's ears immediately go hot from the praise. Baekhyun teases his rim with a second fingertip. "You don't want me to come before I have the chance to fuck you, huh?"

"N-no." Sehun grabs fistfuls of the comforter as Baekhyun's middle finger joins his forefinger. "W-want your knot," he says dreamily, unrestrained, clenching tightly around Baekhyun's fingers before he remembers that he needs to relax. "Want you to— to come inside me."

Baekhyun's fingers go still, and he takes a deep breath, his short fingernails digging into Sehun's hip. "Is it safe for me to do that?" he asks smoothly, after a moment's hesitation.

Wordlessly, Sehun extends his right arm back so Baekhyun can see the telltale outline of the implant beneath the skin of his forearm. "Can't remember to take pills," he adds sheepishly, his cheeks going warm all over again. "Are you, uh…"

"Clean as a whistle," Baekhyun says, catching his meaning right away. "Swear on my life, and may I never shift again if I lie. So." He clears his throat. "Are we all good?"

Sehun leans on one elbow and looks over his shoulder. "I am if you are," he says, offering a reassuring smile upon seeing Baekhyun's brows drawn together in a little frown.

"Good," Baekhyun says, visibly relieved. Sehun faces forward again, and Baekhyun pats his hip, gives it a little squeeze as he pulls his fingers almost all the way out of Sehun and then slides them back in again. Sehun moans weakly, clenching around his fingers. "You want me to keep going?"

"Please," Sehun says, trying to steady the wavering note in his voice. "Feels so good."

With one hand occupied, Baekhyun uses the other to rub Sehun's ass, his fingertips digging into it as he grabs a real handful and squeezes. "God, you have the fattest little ass I've ever seen in my life," he chuckles, letting go of it to give him a little swat across the cheek—not enough to hurt, but just enough to make the flesh move. "Look at that. _Fuck._ That is just… the perfect amount of jiggle." He clucks his tongue softly and runs his hand over Sehun's backside again. "I can't believe you just walk around all day with an ass like this and you don't realize that you're the hottest thing on two legs."

" _Baekhyun_ ," Sehun whines, dragging out the vowels in his name.

" _Sehun_ ," Baekhyun retorts playfully, mimicking his intonation. "You can be as falsely modest as you want, omega, but your body is telling me a different story here." He pulls his fingers out of Sehun and rubs them over his entrance, smearing it with slick. "You get wetter and wetter with every compliment I give you."

With that, he starts to finger Sehun again, but this time he adds his mouth back into the mix, scissoring his fingers apart to wiggle his tongue between them, teasing Sehun's rim. Sehun moans high in the back of his throat and pushes his hips back, desperate for more contact, and Baekhyun leans into it, licking almost hungrily around his fingers as they thrust into Sehun's ass.

"More," Sehun begs, aching to be filled, and he cries out again when Baekhyun starts to work a third finger past his entrance. "Please, _god_ …"

The lewd sounds coming from Baekhyun's mouth are interrupted by his breathy laugh. "No need to be so formal," he says, and Sehun can _hear_ the impish grin in his voice. "'Baekhyun' will do." Sehun groans and flails an arm behind him as if to swat at Baekhyun, who laughs again as his third finger squeezes past Sehun's rim. "Ah, c'mon, pup, don't be like that."

Sehun claws at the blanket and rocks his hips minutely against Baekhyun's hand, which is no longer thrusting but rotating, the sensation so exquisite that he can do nothing but moan with abandon, the sound growing sharper each time Baekhyun's fingertips rub up against his prostate. He's hard again, now, his cock heavy and full between his thighs.

"Alpha," Sehun whimpers, too aroused to feel any kind of shame about how wanton he sounds, "Baekhyun, please, please fuck me, I need it so bad, please—"

Baekhyun withdraws his fingers, and Sehun feels the emptiness so keenly, wants to be filled so badly that the pinpricks of tears bite at the corners of his eyes as if by reflex. But just as he's about to beg Baekhyun further, his messy hand reaches between Sehun's legs to wrap around his erection—and if that weren't enough, Baekhyun then all but faceplants into the cleft of Sehun's ass, holding him steady with a palm on the small of his back as he treats him to what Sehun can only assume is the most ravenous tonguefucking of all time.

He's never felt anything this intense before, and on top of that, he's never been with anyone even half as enthusiastic as Baekhyun. It seems that Baekhyun genuinely enjoys this: touching him, making him come, putting Sehun's pleasure before his own. This thought, coupled with the realization that all of this is merely _foreplay_ , turns Sehun's mind to the prospect of getting well and thoroughly fucked—of coming yet again, but this time on Baekhyun's knot—and _that_ is what draws the long, loud whine from his throat as he gives in to his second orgasm of the evening. Baekhyun's hand leaves his back, ostensibly to catch the spurts of come before they soak into his comforter, but his tongue doesn't let up, lapping furiously at Sehun's rim until Sehun gasps and shies away, the sensations from Baekhyun's mouth and hand suddenly too much for his body to handle at once.

Baekhyun eases back with a wet smack of his lips against Sehun's entrance and another light slap to his ass with the back of his hand, and a little hum of satisfaction rumbles in his throat when Sehun moans feebly in response.

"I'm gonna go wash up real quick, okay?" Baekhyun squeezes Sehun's hip. "I'll be back in a couple minutes. Don't move."

"I don't think I could even if I wanted to," Sehun groans, closing his eyes and smiling faintly at the soft laugh he gets in reply as the bedroom door opens and he hears Baekhyun's feet shuffle away.

Sehun's not sure how much time passes before Baekhyun returns; enough for him to splay his knees a bit, relieving some of the tension in his hips and thighs, and to stretch his arms forward and arch his back until he hears a series of satisfying pops and cracks. He relaxes against the mattress with a little sigh, rubbing his cheek against the duvet cover just as Baekhyun walks back into the room.

"Much better," Baekhyun says; mostly to himself, it seems. He pats Sehun's backside. "Hey, you moved."

"Only to stretch a little," Sehun protests, lifting his head to look over his shoulder at Baekhyun, who is wrestling his way out of his T-shirt.

"I'm only kidding, I don't mind," Baekhyun says reassuringly, dropping the shirt on the carpet. He lowers his hands to unfasten his jeans, but then he stops and makes a little circular gesture at Sehun with his pointer finger. "No peeking. I'm shy."

Sehun turns to face forward obediently, but not without an indignant whine. "You made me give you a— a friggin' peep show, and yet I don't get to look at you? That's so unfair."

"Life's not fair, omega," Baekhyun says matter-of-factly over the rustle of clothing hitting the floor. "Besides, isn't the mystery kind of exciting?"

He steps up to the edge of the bed again and reaches forward to run a hand down Sehun's back, his other presumably holding his cock as he drags it along the cleft of Sehun's ass. Sehun gasps as Baekhyun rubs the tip back and forth through the slickness coming out of him.

"Is this how you want it?" Baekhyun asks in a low voice, pushing gently against the resistance he meets. "You wanna be mounted like an animal when I fuck you, omega?"

Sehun lets out a shuddering breath, heat rushing into his face. It's embarrassing, the way he feels himself leaking at those words. "Yes, alpha."

"Have you ever taken a knot before?"

Sehun hesitates for a split-second too long. "Y-yeah, of course."

Baekhyun snorts and pats Sehun's hip. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a godawful liar?"

Sehun cringes, his head falling against his forearms. "I'm sorry."

"Look, I'm only asking 'cause I don't want you to be surprised when it happens," Baekhyun explains, a soft hiss slipping between his teeth as he lightly rocks his hips forward to wet his shaft with fresh slick. "And I don't wanna hurt you, so if I can't get it all the way in before it gets too big, I'm not gonna force it. Are we clear?"

"Yes, alpha," Sehun says, so aroused by Baekhyun's firm tone of voice and the thick cock pressed against his ass that it makes his stomach ache. He swallows hard, mouth dry. "Please," he whispers, pushing back against the head of Baekhyun's cock and relaxing just enough to take the very tip past his rim. "M'ready for you."

Baekhyun laughs faintly, the sound trailing off into a moan. "Yes, you are," he says, sounding half amused and half amazed as he grips Sehun's hips and slowly but surely drives his cock forward, grunting with the effort. " _God_ , I can't believe I got you this wet," he gasps, pulling halfway out and thrusting back in, the slide a little easier this time. "And I can't fucking believe I'm actually inside of you right now. This night…" He whistles lowly. "What a trip."

Sehun pants, his breath hot where it's reflected back into his face from the duvet cover. Baekhyun isn't excessively long, but he is satisfyingly girthy, and he fills Sehun up so well that he's starting to have second thoughts about this knotting thing, unsure of how much more he's capable of taking.

"Not gonna lie, I thought— fuck, I thought about this the whole ride back here," Baekhyun says haltingly as he tries to set an easy pace, presumably for Sehun's comfort as much as his own. "The way you made that whole car smell like sex… I was _this_ close to laying you down in the back seat and dry-humping your leg like a total freak."

With that, his hands move lower, clutching at Sehun's thighs for leverage, and Sehun sinks further into the bed, his legs spreading a little farther apart. He can take Baekhyun deeper this way, helpless moans punching their way out of his throat with each thrust, with every slap of Baekhyun's balls against his ass.

"Wish you could see what I see right now, omega," Baekhyun grunts after a few minutes, slowing his movements. He pulls almost all the way out, choking out a laugh through his moan when Sehun clenches around his cockhead as if to keep him inside by force. "I'm not going anywhere," Baekhyun reassures him, skimming his palms along the soft skin of Sehun's inner thighs a few times. "Just… taking a moment to appreciate your gorgeous body, that's all."

He grasps Sehun's thighs and leans forward little by little, his cock edging deeper into Sehun's body, and Sehun can feel every inch of him as he slides in until he's stretched open around the root of Baekhyun's cock, Baekhyun's hip bones framing his ass.

"How's that?" Baekhyun murmurs, slowly rolling his hips against Sehun's backside as though savoring every thrust. "Too much?"

"No, no, it's good," Sehun gasps, his fingers aching from gripping the duvet in his fists. "It's perfect."

"Right back atcha," Baekhyun grunts, and the mattress shifts under Sehun's knees. "Scoot up a little, I'm coming up."

Somehow, Baekhyun manages to stay inside Sehun as he maneuvers himself onto the bed and kneels between Sehun's splayed knees, his hands settling on Sehun's hips before he starts to move again. After several moments, he lets out a breathy laugh. "Unbelievable."

"What?"

"Just—" Baekhyun moans faintly and pulls one hand away from Sehun's hips to run his fingertips back and forth along the curve of Sehun's spine. "You don't have a single bad angle."

"Alpha," Sehun mumbles shyly, feeling an instinctive urge to protest against the litany of compliments Baekhyun keeps raining down on him tonight, but he loses his train of thought when he tilts his hips back and causes the head of Baekhyun's cock to pound against his prostate. " _Baekhyun_."

"You make my name sound so good when you say it like that." Baekhyun sounds almost blissful when he sighs, another soft moan catching in the back of his throat. "I like your voice, omega."

Sehun whines and shields his burning face with his arms, but no matter how hard he tries to hide it, his pheromones make it all too clear how pleased he is by Baekhyun's endless stream of sweet nothings. Being appreciated, almost _spoiled_ in this way, with no expectation of reciprocation… Sehun can't help feeling a little awkward, being so unused to this kind of attention, but he can't deny that it feels amazing. Baekhyun talking to him like this, touching him like this… it's the kind of thing a person could get used to—addicted to, even—very quickly.

And it's that addictive quality, that _craving_ , that also freaks him out a little, because Sehun cannot let himself fall head over heels for someone he's known for all of an hour and a half. Being attracted to someone is not the same as being in love with them. Every wolf comes to this understanding eventually; some slower than others, of course. But it's hard for Sehun to remember this mantra when Baekhyun makes him feel this good—not only in the basest sense of the phrase but also in how Baekhyun makes him feel about _himself_. Until tonight, every interaction Sehun had ever had with an alpha left him with the distinct sense that something was wrong with him. Baekhyun, by contrast, has done nothing but lift him up where others would have put him down. That doesn't mean Baekhyun _likes_ him, though, and it certainly doesn't give Sehun license to fall for someone who is, essentially, a stranger. That would be too pathetic to even deserve a second thought, so he won't let himself think about it. He can't. Besides, there's absolutely no way Baekhyun is actually trying to make Sehun fall in love with him.

( _But on the off chance he is_ , says a tiny voice in the back of Sehun's mind, _it's kind of working_.)

Fortunately, Baekhyun distracts him from this thoroughly annoying line of thought by pulling out, then reaching forward and clutching at Sehun's shoulders. "C'mere, you. Sit up."

Sehun does as he's bid, planting his hands on the bed and pushing himself up on his hands and knees, and that's when Baekhyun takes over, wrapping his hands around Sehun's biceps and pulling him up until his back is pressed against Baekhyun's chest. It is immediately apparent to Sehun that although he might have a few inches on Baekhyun, the advantages stop there. He's deceptively strong, and his chest is nearly as broad as Sehun's. He sort of wishes he had a full-frontal view of Baekhyun right about now, not least because he's a very good kisser, but he's keen to let Baekhyun do as he likes, considering everything else he's done up to now has definitely been to Sehun's liking.

That doesn't mean he's not impatient to get going again, though. Sehun pushes his ass back, catching Baekhyun's cock in the cleft between his cheeks and rubbing himself lewdly against it. His own cock twitches at the way Baekhyun groans in response and mouths at his neck.

"You really want it? Hmm?" There is a clear note of desperation that creeps out in Sehun's answering mewl of assent as Baekhyun nuzzles his neck and slips a hand between their bodies to line himself up. "All right, omega…" Baekhyun doesn't thrust into him, then, but rather grabs Sehun by the hips and pulls him _down_ , slowly seating him on his cock as he murmurs into his ear, "C'mon, show me how bad you want it."

Sehun shivers faintly, the soft hiss of Baekhyun's whisper sending goosebumps all up and down his legs. Given his recent dry spell, he hopes he's not too off his game as he makes his first move, squeezing around Baekhyun's cock as he lifts himself off of it and relaxing on the slide down into the cradle of Baekhyun's hips.

Baekhyun curses under his breath as Sehun finds his rhythm, undulating in Baekhyun's lap. It seems as though Baekhyun has to consciously remind himself to let Sehun control the pace, judging from the way Baekhyun's grip on his waist tightens little by little before easing up all at once. 

"You okay back there?" Sehun asks with a breathless laugh.

" _No_ ," Baekhyun laughs in reply. "How can you even ask me that when I just have to sit here and watch you move like a fucking sex dream?"

Sehun slows his movements, pushing his hips up and back so Baekhyun's eyes will be drawn to the swoop of his lower back where it meets the swell of his backside, snug around Baekhyun's cock. "You know this was your idea, right?"

Baekhyun's hands are restless on his waist as he buries his face in Sehun's neck. "I know, but you are _way_ too good at this," he groans. "I totally played myself. I've never wanted to fuck anyone this badly in my whole damn life."

Sehun cranes his head around as he pulls up on Baekhyun's cock, lifting an eyebrow. "Exactly what do you think you're doing right now, alpha?"

"No, no, when I say 'fuck,'" Baekhyun clarifies, his hands clutching Sehun's waist for real, "I mean _fuck_."

Just as Sehun begins to slide down on his cock again, Baekhyun meets him with an upward thrust angled right into his prostate, and Sehun moans, a little burst of pleasure taking him by surprise. "Oh, f-fuck," he gasps. "Keep doing that, alpha, fuck me just like that."

He feels himself getting hard again, and he thinks he might be able to come just from Baekhyun fucking him like this, holding him tightly as his hips pound into Sehun's ass. Baekhyun seems close, too; there's something frantic in his movement, something single-minded about the sounds he makes as he rubs his cheek against the curve of Sehun's neck.

With one hand firmly gripping Sehun's hip, he slips his other beneath Sehun's arm and loops his own arm around to grasp Sehun's shoulder, giving himself more leverage with which to pull Sehun down to meet his thrusts. 

" _Fuuuuuuck_ ," Baekhyun groans, sounding as overwhelmed as Sehun feels. He buries his face in the crook of Sehun's neck and inhales deeply, muffling a tremulous moan against his skin. "Why do you have to smell so perfect?" he whispers, and Sehun knows well enough that he's not really looking for an answer. "It makes me wanna fuckin'—"

Baekhyun's hold on him tightens, and he turns his head, pressing kisses along Sehun's sweat-dampened skin until his mouth touches the little protrusion of bone at the top of Sehun's spine. His lips pause there for a moment, little puffs of air exhaled from his nose tickling the fine hairs there. And then, Baekhyun gently— _gently_ —catches the scruff of his neck between his teeth, and Sehun gasps as his entire body flushes with heat, a sharp pang of desire mingled with a frisson of terror wrapping around his insides like a fist.

Instinctively, he reaches up to clamp a hand around Baekhyun's wrist and has to stop himself from shouting _Don't bite me!_ , even though he knows Baekhyun wouldn't dare—not only because his grip isn't nearly hard enough to break skin but also because no wolf, not even one lost in the throes of passion, would be stupid enough to mark someone they'd only just met.

And yet… the way his cock throbs at the thought makes it abundantly clear that there is at least a little something about the idea that Sehun finds appealing. It's always felt so abstract to him, the notion of being mate-marked—one of those things he always thought he'd get around to someday if the right alpha ever came along, but that alone seemed like such a long shot that he'd never bothered to contemplate the matter in detail.

But here, with Baekhyun's teeth nipping lightly at his neck, his cock deep inside, the promise of his knot in the near future, Sehun finally gets it—finally lets himself wonder what it would really _feel_ like to let someone mate-mark him. To let himself be claimed by someone else, and to claim them in turn.

 _You're doing it again_ , Sehun chastises himself. _Dumb pup._

Still, the thought sends a little shiver down Sehun's spine, and that, combined with Sehun's death-grip on his arm, seems to bring Baekhyun to his senses. Abruptly, he goes completely still inside of Sehun and relaxes his jaw, his forehead falling against the nape of Sehun's neck instead.

"I am so sorry," Baekhyun whispers, sounding utterly mortified. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

"You weren't," Sehun points out gently. "I think that's kind of the point. It was—it was a reflex thing, right?"

"Yeah, but…" Baekhyun loosens his grip on Sehun, as if to give him an out, but Sehun stays put. "I shouldn't have given in to it. It's not the first time I've ever felt that way, but it— it happened so _fast_ that I just… totally lost my fucking mind, apparently."

"It's really okay," Sehun says, and he means it. Where Baekhyun is clearly rattled, he feels an odd sense of calm about the incident. "I get it."

"It's not okay. I shouldn't have let it get that far." He muffles a miserable little noise against Sehun's shoulder. "You know I would never have actually bitten you, though, right? I mean, maybe I wanted to in an idiotic primal instinct kind of way, but I promise I am not stupid enough to actually—"

"I know," Sehun interrupts him, easing his grip on Baekhyun's wrist to take his hand instead. "It's— I'm not upset. You just… startled me, that's all."

"Oh." Baekhyun sounds almost taken aback. "Can you, uh— do you mind turning around? I think I'd feel a little less freaked out if I could see what your face is doing right now."

Sehun smiles to himself and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, all right," he says, easing off of Baekhyun's cock and slowly maneuvering himself around until they're facing each other, Sehun's legs still splayed with his ankles hanging off the edge of the bed on either side of Baekhyun, who hasn't moved an inch.

Sehun leans back on his elbows, and it occurs to him that he's finally seeing Baekhyun in the altogether for the first time. He really is prettier than any alpha Sehun's ever met, the breadth of his shoulders offset by the way his trim waist curves out toward his hips. He flexes his long, slender fingers against his kneecaps and worries his lip between his teeth, and for all his self-assuredness, he looks like he doesn't entirely believe that Sehun isn't about to bail on him. He's a little bundle of contradictions, Sehun thinks, not unlike himself, and he thinks there's something kind of poetic about that. Try as he might to stop looking for reasons to like Baekhyun, he can't really help it when they're thrust upon him like this.

Realizing he should probably quit his ogling and put the poor alpha out of his misery, Sehun blinks and refocuses his gaze on Baekhyun's face. "See? Not mad."

"Are you sure?" Baekhyun looks skeptical. "I'd probably be pissed at me if I were you."

"Well, I'm not, so stop beating yourself up over it," Sehun says a little more petulantly, holding himself up with one elbow and using his other hand to pull one knee in toward his chest to expose himself, watching Baekhyun's gaze drift downward. "Now, are you gonna finish the job or not?"

"You get cranky when you're horny, huh?" A smile appears on Baekhyun's face as he kneels between Sehun's thighs, pushing Sehun's other leg in toward his chest as he leans in to drag the head of his cock over Sehun's hole a few times. "That's real cute, pup."

Sehun's head falls back at his touch, but he manages to keep his wits about himself enough to aim a dirty look at Baekhyun. "Don't call me that."

"What? 'Pup'?" Baekhyun grins at him… _Well, not to put too fine a point on it_ , Sehun thinks, but _wolfishly_. "You know what they say: if the collar fits…"

"Compare me to a common house pet again, I dare you," Sehun says hotly, reaching up to pinch and tug at one of Baekhyun's nipples. "I'll shift right here and bite it off."

"Ooh, he's feisty," Baekhyun laughs, pushing teasingly against Sehun's entrance. "I thought you wanted to fuck, but I'll fight you if you really want me to. Of course, it won't be a fair fight, 'cause I guarantee you my wolf is a lot bigger than yours. Oh, wait a second—" He narrows his eyes and smirks at Sehun. "This isn't some kind of ploy to make me go all Animal Planet and mount you in wolf form, is it? Kinky."

Sehun stares at him blankly for a moment, his face flushing with an odd combination of shame and perverse arousal at the mere thought, but he drives the image from his mind with a little shake of his head. "All right, that's it," he says flatly. "I'm out."

Sehun makes to sit up, and that wipes the smirk off of Baekhyun's face real fast. "Wait, wait, wait," he panics. "I was only joking, I'm sorry—"

Sehun falls back onto his elbows with a little huff and a satisfied smirk. "Calm down, alpha. I'm just messing with you."

"Oh." Baekhyun plants his hands on the mattress, his upper half sagging with relief. "You look really intimidating when your face gets all serious, you know that?"

"Well, don't say weird shit like that," Sehun says with a little sneer, "and I won't have to make that face again."

"I know, I'm sorry, it was gross, but I really was kidding," Baekhyun insists. "Seriously. I would never actually do that, and not just 'cause of the obvious 'it's super fucked up' reason."

"I have a feeling you're gonna tell me why even if I don't want you to, so come on," Sehun says with feigned weariness, a smile tugging at his lips. "Let's hear it."

"It's not gross or anything," Baekhyun says quickly as he leans forward, his upper body hovering over Sehun's. "It's just, y'know… having a snout is not real conducive to kissing, that's all."

Sehun covers his mouth with the back of his hand as he snorts out a laugh. "That's real cute, pup," he says with a faintly mocking tone, cupping Baekhyun's cheek in his palm.

"Don't throw my words back in my face like that," Baekhyun whines, nudging the tip of Sehun's nose with his own. "I like kissing, and you happen to have an extremely kissable mouth." As if to prove his point, he moves closer to give Sehun a short, sweet kiss. "And no doubt a very talented tongue as well," he adds, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Sehun murmurs as he rises up to kiss Baekhyun again, this time opening his mouth slightly to tease at the seam of Baekhyun's lips with the tip of his tongue. He tastes cool and minty; he must have brushed his teeth when he left the room a little earlier, Sehun reasons. Baekhyun leans into the kiss, a tiny puff of air hitting Sehun's cheek when he sighs. But just as Baekhyun really starts to get into it, Sehun pulls away, flashing him a smug smile. "Finish what you started here and maybe you'll find out."

He folds one arm beneath his head and hooks his ankles behind Baekhyun's knees, spreading his legs a little wider and trapping Baekhyun between them. Sehun's other hand slides down his abdomen, wrapping around his cock and stroking it a few times, enough that he can feel himself getting slick again.

Baekhyun watches him for several moments, transfixed by the sight, but then he reaches out to stop him, fingers curling around Sehun's wrist. "Don't do that."

Sehun's mouch scrunches up impatiently. "Why not?" 

Baekhyun's voice is calm but insistent. "Just wait."

He lets go of Sehun's arm and watches him intently as he moves closer, lifting an eyebrow in a wordless question as he rubs the tip of his cock against Sehun's entrance. Sehun nods, and he has to close his eyes because it makes his face too hot, seeing Baekhyun watching him like that as he enters Sehun again. He gasps when Baekhyun's hands slip under his knees and push them toward his chest just as his cock slips ever deeper into Sehun's body, and Sehun's back arches at the mere sensation of being that full all over again. Baekhyun moves so smoothly in him, rocking right into that spot that makes Sehun's eyelids flutter.

"Doing okay?" Baekhyun pants after a few minutes.

" _Yes_ , alpha, right there, harder," Sehun pleads, blinking his eyes open again. He pulls his arm out from under his head and reaches down with both hands to take over for Baekhyun, holding his legs apart and pulling them inward. "C'mere, c'mere—"

Hands now free, Baekhyun all but dives forward, one arm slipping behind Sehun's head as their lips meet again. He changes pace, taking him more forcefully now, swallowing the sounds Sehun moans into his mouth and making a few of his own when Sehun starts to clench around his cock. He moves increasingly faster as Sehun tightens around him and licks into his mouth, until he suddenly tears himself away from the kiss with a gasp, his movement grinding to a halt.

" _Fuck_ ," Baekhyun groans, shuddering as he slams into Sehun's ass one final time, fully sheathing his cock within Sehun's body.

With a low moan, his upper body collapses against Sehun's chest, hips still jerking the slightest bit as the first wave of orgasm hits him. And then Sehun feels it—first the warmth of Baekhyun's come spilling into him, and then the knot swelling inside of him, giving rise to a fleeting moment of panic that he won't be able to take it, that it will be too big, that it will hurt him.

The feeling is gone almost as soon as it arrives, however, supplanted by the bone-deep sense of pleasure he feels as Baekhyun continues to grind against him, scattering lazy kisses over his chest. Sehun moans breathily when Baekhyun's lips close around one of his nipples, his fingertips playing over the other.

"That's it, omega," Baekhyun murmurs, lapping at the little nub. "You're gonna make me come again just from listening to you. Sound even sweeter with my knot inside you. Feel it?"

Baekhyun rocks into him, and Sehun gasps, a jerky nod the only response he can manage.

"I didn't want you to touch yourself because I wanted to see if you could come just like this," he whispers. "Just from being knotted. Think you can do it?"

Sehun pants beneath him, Baekhyun's soft words and kisses and the continuous, rhythmic rubbing of his knot against Sehun's prostate drawing him closer and closer to climax until finally, blessedly, he comes, spilling between their bodies what little he has left after the first two times Baekhyun had gotten him off.

His orgasm makes his muscles contract around the knot, locking it inside of him for who knows how long, and Baekhyun shudders atop him, another cry falling from his lips as the tight squeeze around his cock draws a second wave of release from his body.

"Fuck," Sehun says in a strangled whisper once Baekhyun goes limp, letting go of his aching legs.

Baekhyun barks out a dry laugh, his voice similarly strained. "Word."

He turns his head to bury his face in Sehun's neck, muffling another loud moan there, and Sehun tentatively wraps his arms around Baekhyun. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm." Baekhyun lifts a hand to pet Sehun's hair clumsily and turns his head a little to the left to be heard better, but otherwise remains immobile. "Are you? M'sorry, I know this probably isn't very comfortable for you."

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was just— _Jesus_." Sehun clenches involuntarily, the sudden tightness drawing gasps from both of them. "Fuck, this is so intense." He stops to catch his breath for a moment. "Does it— this is probably a really dumb question, but does it, like… hurt you at all? The— the knot, I mean."

"It's not a dumb question," Baekhyun reassures him. "And no. Feels like having a regular hard-on, but, like… harder, if that makes sense."

Sehun nods, turning his head slightly to glance down at Baekhyun. "How, uh… how long does it usually take to go down?"

"For me? Like… fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, give or take?" Baekhyun bares his teeth in a slight grimace. "Sometimes it's as little as five minutes, and this one time it took a whole hour. Which is… probably why it's unwise to do this with someone you barely know. There's nothing more awkward than being stuck inside someone who desperately wants to get the fuck out of your apartment."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not in a hurry to be anywhere," Sehun says drowsily, closing his eyes with a little smile. "Besides, I seem to recall you saying something about wanting your sheets to smell like me tomorrow morning…"

"Oh, god, please don't remind me of the dumb shit that comes out of my mouth when I'm out of my mind on pheromones," Baekhyun groans, hiding his face in Sehun's neck once again (and evidently taking the opportunity to get another deep whiff of his scent). He lifts his head after several moments and pushes himself up onto his forearms so he's face to face with Sehun. "But since you mention it, what _is_ that? It's, like, kinda flowery… but also not? I know I've smelled it before, but I don't remember what it's called."

"It's, uh— it's orange blossom," Sehun says with a shy smile as Baekhyun returns to snuffling at his neck, inhaling Sehun's scent like he can't breathe without it. Sehun's hand hovers in the air beside Baekhyun's head for a moment before he allows himself to run his fingers through Baekhyun's hair. "I read somewhere once that it's actually an aphrodisiac."

"No kidding," Baekhyun snorts, turning his head so his voice isn't so muffled. "You already look like a snack, and now you gotta smell like one, too? It's so unfair. You're like— like if a Venus flytrap were a person… but also a wolf? A carnivorous plant–wolf–human hybrid. Venus dicktrap. _Canis lupus dicktrappicus_? Wait, no, _no_ , stop laughing, you're gonna make me come again—"

Baekhyun grasps at Sehun's bicep with a stifled mewl, and Sehun's laughter subsides into a soft groan as he contracts around the knot again, wicking more come from Baekhyun's cock.

"I should have put down a towel," Baekhyun says with a rueful chuckle. "We're gonna make such a mess when this thing comes out."

"Let's not worry about it until then," Sehun says quietly, resting his cheek against the top of Baekhyun's head with a little sigh.

He dozes off like that, only stirring when the mattress shifts beneath him and he hears Baekhyun whispering his name in a raspy voice, his fingernails scratching lightly at Sehun's cheek.

"Hmm?" Sehun turns his head and sucks in a long breath, his eyelids slowly fluttering open. "M'awake, sorry."

"No, no, it's okay," Baekhyun says with that breathy laugh Sehun finds so charming. "You were only out for, like… I dunno, twenty minutes? The knot went down—I just didn't wanna surprise you by pulling out."

It's not until Baekhyun brings it up that Sehun even realizes that he's not nearly as full as he was before he passed out, and he's about to be totally empty. The thought is… oddly disappointing.

"Oh. Right." Sehun blinks a couple times and lifts a hand to rake his hair out of his face. "Go ahead, then."

Baekhyun sits up on his knees and slowly withdraws, inhaling deeply with his lips pressed tightly together just as Sehun relaxes into the bed on a shaky exhale, both of them stifling tiny gasps once Baekhyun is fully out. He crawls backwards until he hits the edge of the bed, then gets to his feet, but only long enough to grab a box of tissues off his desk. Perching himself on the end of the bed, he holds out the box to Sehun, who snatches a couple tissues and looks pointedly at Baekhyun before twirling his finger in a little circle. Quick on the uptake, Baekhyun looks away so as to offer Sehun a modicum of privacy as he cleans himself up.

"Do you, uh— do you mind if I take a shower?" Sehun asks hesitantly. "B-before I head out, I mean."

Baekhyun whips his head around to look at Sehun, visibly alarmed, but his voice comes out strangely calm. "Oh, y-yeah, of course you can take a shower," he says, breezily waving a hand as he hops off the bed again to grab the small trash bin under his desk. He offers it to Sehun, then puts it down beside the bed and sits down again. "But you, uh— you don't have to leave. If you don't want to, I mean. Like, if you do want to, then by all means go ahead, but you could… you could stay over, too. If you want."

Sehun can't answer for a moment, dumbstruck by the sudden warmth that floods his chest, but it becomes clear from the sudden aroma of orange blossoms and the beatific smile that takes over Baekhyun's face that, yet again, his body is doing all the talking for him.

"I want," Sehun says quietly as he glances away, his lips twitching with the effort of keeping his smile casual. "On one condition."

Baekhyun is clearly making a similar effort to stay composed. "Name it."

"You have to take me out on an actual date sometime," Sehun demands, his tone playful but the message dead serious. "I had a really good time tonight, and I feel like we get along pretty well, and I just— I dunno, I just think it would suck if this were a one-time thing."

 _Nice job_ , he thinks the second the words leave his mouth, his gut twisting with dread at the way Baekhyun's eyebrows jump in apparent surprise. _You overplayed your hand. Why do you have to cling to anyone who shows even the slightest interest in you?_

But then Baekhyun's shoulders sag with… relief?

"Oh, good. Me too," he sighs, falling onto the bed at an angle from Sehun. He tilts his head up to look at Sehun and squeezes his hand. "What are your feelings on brunch? Tomorrow, say… eleven-ish? My treat, of course."

Sehun lets his head fall to the side and blinks at Baekhyun, not having expected this response. "I like brunch," he says, unable to think of anything cleverer than that at the moment.

Baekhyun grins. "Then it's a date," he says firmly, swooping in to leave a plucking kiss on Sehun's lips. "Now hurry up and get showered already so we can fight about who gets to be the little spoon tonight. Spoiler: it's gonna be me, so don't bother arguing."

"But I never get to be the little spoon," Sehun laments, doing his damnedest to look as pitiful as possible.

Baekhyun narrows his eyes and stares at Sehun for a moment. "Oh, you're _good_ ," he says with begrudging admiration, an indulgent smile curling his lips.

Sehun grins in return, and Baekhyun reaches over to sift a hand through his hair and pat his cheek before he slides off the edge of the bed and stoops to pick up his boxers and put them back on. 

"Bathroom's down the hall from the living room, first door on the left," Baekhyun says, moving to rummage in his closet until he turns around with a folded towel in his hands, "and you can use my shampoo and soap and all that. It's on the left side of the little shelf in the corner of the shower."

Sehun gets up and takes the towel from Baekhyun, wrapping it around himself as he heads for the door, but then Baekhyun catches him around the waist and pulls him into a kiss, his hand cradling Sehun's jaw.

"Don't take too long," Baekhyun whispers, and there's a faintly naughty look on his face that makes Sehun's insides squirm in the nicest way.

"I won't," Sehun says softly, poking Baekhyun's cheek. "But you better not fall asleep while I'm gone."

"As if," Baekhyun scoffs. "But you know there's a very easy way to ensure that doesn't happen."

Sehun raises an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah?"

Baekhyun nods, tilting his face up toward Sehun's ear. "You could let me join you in that shower," he says quietly, trailing a fingertip down the length of Sehun's sternum. "That way, you could keep an eye on me. Or a hand. Or a mouth. Any combination of the three, really."

Every time Sehun thinks he has nothing left, Baekhyun turns him on all over again. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you supposed to be the one keeping _me_ in line?"

"What's the fun in that?" Baekhyun reaches around Sehun to grab his own towel off the hook on the back of his bedroom door. "I defy convention. I'm a _renegade_."

Sehun's lips scrunch together in amusement. "You are, huh?"

Baekhyun narrows his eyes, nose wrinkling cutely. "Don't sass me, omega."

Sehun laughs. "Wow, what an unconventional thing for an alpha to say!"

Baekhyun is clearly biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling. "You better walk out that door right now before I throw you back onto that bed and teach you some respect."

"Because I would hate that, of course," Sehun deadpans as he turns to leave. He takes a few steps, then pauses to glance over his shoulder. "You coming or what?"

"You're a little bit of a brat, aren't you?" Baekhyun drapes his towel over his shoulder and walks past Sehun, leading him to the bathroom. "I'm starting to think I should have let that guy kick your ass earlier, teach you a lesson."

"Yeah, but you didn't." Sehun grins as he catches up, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun's shoulders and shuffling along behind him. "My hero."

Baekhyun elbows the bathroom door open and flips the lightswitch. "Yeah, well, charity is a virtue, I guess," he says, his smirk reflected in the mirror opposite the doorway.

He wriggles in Sehun's arms, reaching out toward the shower, and Sehun lets go of him so he can turn on the water. "True," Sehun agrees, closing the bathroom door. "And the virtuous are always rewarded."

That piques Baekhyun's interest. Still gripping the shower curtain, he looks over his shoulder at Sehun and raises his voice over the sound of the water hitting the tub. "How so?"

"I dunno." Sehun shrugs and leans against the sink, a coy smile playing at his lips. "Out of curiosity, are you opposed to waking up with a mouth around your cock? Just doing some market research for the Blowjob Fairy."

Baekhyun chokes out a laugh. " _God_ ," he says, shaking his head, and he smells so divine that Sehun would drop to his knees on the spot if he didn't know exactly where that cock had been not five minutes ago. "We are never gonna make it out of here in time for brunch tomorrow if you keep this up."

"Oh, well, if that's what you're worried about," Sehun says, undoing the towel around his waist and neatly hanging it over the bar just outside the shower, "I know a place that does breakfast all day on the weekends, so as long as time isn't an issue for you…"

He glances at Baekhyun to gauge his reaction and is surprised when he lifts his hands to Sehun's face and pulls him into a kiss, the kind of kiss that makes his heart thump against his ribs. Sehun has to blink a couple times to refocus his gaze when Baekhyun lets him go.

"You better watch out, Sehun." Baekhyun grins and pulls back the shower curtain, then pats Sehun on the ass as if to say _after you_. "Keep saying shit like that and there's a good chance you'll never be rid of me."

Sehun doesn't respond, but the smile tugging at his lips and the scent of orange blossoms wafting behind him as he steps into the shower say more than any words ever could.

**Author's Note:**

> I read a lot of ABO, but this is actually the first ABO fic I've ever written, so please be gentle with me! I ended up having to do a number of incognito google searches on canine mating practices for this because even though werewolves are fake, I can't help but try to suspend disbelief as much as possible. [FYI, photos of the aftermath are kind of hilarious because the male dog throws his leg over the female's back after it's over so he can turn around, and they just stand there with their butts touching for as long as it takes for the knot to go down. It's like that old Nickelodeon cartoon CatDog but instead it's DogDog and _way_ more (National Geo)graphic.]
> 
> I digress! To the prompter: thanks for the excellent prompt! I hope this is what you were looking for and that there's enough body worship stuff for your liking! I had a lot of fun writing this—it practically sprang out of my head fully formed, which doesn't often happen when I take on a fest fic. (This is the first fest I haven't dropped out of, lmfao.) And I got to indulge in some things that I particularly enjoy—extolling the beauty of Oh Sehun, Baekhyun being the cutest little shit, and making Sehun smell like one of my favorite scents—so that was very nice. (Next time I get an extra paycheck, I'm splurging on another bottle of Jo Malone orange blossom cologne, damn it, because _I'm worth it_.)
> 
> In case anyone's wondering, the title comes from the Red Velvet song of the same name (though the lyrics of that song have nothing to do with this story since it's about a breakup, not a hookup, lol). Thanks for reading!
> 
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